Urban agriculture workshops will bring communities together this summer

Anyone interested in learning about how to grow food in an urban setting can find out more thanks to a series of community workshops coming this summer.

Dr Andy Jenkins from the University of Salford is leading the community workshops, which will be made available to people who live and/or work in Clayton or Oldham. Experts in urban agriculture, architecture, digital illustration, horticulture, and digital fabrication will be on-hand to assist with the workshops and to maximise knowledge transfer.

Community members will be guided through a design process to co-create and later build a small-scale local urban food system. This approach puts local people at the very centre of the project to ensure that the outcomes suit their requirements and capture their imagination as future custodians of the systems and the produce grown.

The project is comprised of three main events in both Oldham and Clayton, which includes two co-creation session across May and June and a celebration event when the systems are installed. In addition, there will also be an opportunity to visit the University of Salford to help build the food systems during the ‘maker week’ event, held at our on-site maker space.

The team will be starting with the question ‘what meal would you like to eat and share together?’ From this, an ingredients list will be created and embedded into the co-design of a small-scale growing system, which we will then be built and installed in Oldham and Clayton.

Dr Andy Jenkins said: “This is a great opportunity for anyone who is interested in reducing the distance between the food they eat and where it is grown, and for those who want to grow food and don’t have the space to do it. We want to bring people together, have fun, and share a delicious meal together!”

The workshops are a great way to learn more about growing food in your community, to meet people in your local area that share similar interests, and to contribute your knowledge and enthusiasm to an exciting project. No prior experience in growing food or designing is required, and everyone is welcome.

The programme for the project is as follows:

• an initial workshop to discuss ideas, build models, and draw your vision for the future.
• a second workshop to design the chosen idea in more detail and think about how you will use it.
• an opportunity to visit the University of Salford to help build the food system.
• A celebration event when the food system is installed in your community.

The dates for the events are as follows:

Clayton – 16^th May & 20^th June

Oldham – 17^th May & 17^th June

To sign up use the Eventbrite